Diamond coated dental grinding wheel



Dec. 28, 1954 P. E. OBERLEY 2,697,878

DIAMOND COATED DENTAL GRINDING WHEEL Filed Nov. 19, 1953 2.7 I Z? INVENTOR. LE 5 PAUL E. OBERLEY ATTORNEY United States Patent DIAMOND COATED DENTAL GRINDING WHEEL Paul E. Oberley, Mineola, N. Y.

Application November 19, 1953, Serial No. 393,150 k 9 Claims. (Cl. 32-59) This invention pertains to dental grinding elements, and it is particularly concerned with a dental grinding wheel of an improved nature having a number of very desirable advantages.

While the invention is subject to wide application and use, it is particularly applicable to diamond coated dental grinding wheels.

When used in dental work a grinding wheel is rotated at high speed and as a result considerable undesirable heat is developed in the Working end of the tool. Further, the grinding element, particularly the diamond coated kind which are in great demand, picks up particles of tooth debris. This rapidly accumulates between the diamond particles and, if the debris is not quickly and thoroughly cleaned away, it substantially diminishes the grinding qualities of the tool, rendering it useless. It is very difiicult and time consuming to clean debris from the grinding element after use, because when the debris has been forced between the fine diamond particles of the wheel it clings tightly and soon dries hard. Unless foreign matter is removed from the abrading surface of a grinding wheel, the latter becomes of little value and must be discarded. Grinding wheels also become damaged by the developing of excessive heat during a grinding operation. To have to discard a grinding tool, particularly one of the diamond coated variety, for any of these reasons is not very pleasant, particularly where the article has seen very little use. Diamond coating grinding elements are very expensive, and any means of keeping them clean of tooth debris and preventing the developing of damaging heat during a work operation fills a long felt want.

A general object of this invention is, therefore, to prolong the life and to improve the usefulness of a dental grinding wheel and the like, particularly those of the diamond coated variety.

Another object of the invention is to provide a grinding wheel of such construction that it may be simultaneously cleaned and cooled as it operates.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved liquid cooled and cleaned diamond coated dental grinding wheel.

A still further object of this invention is to provide in association with a power o erated dental handpiece having a liquid feed, a grinding wheel which is of such construction and form that it may be simultaneously cooled and cleaned by the liquid feed as it rotates and which is further adapted to centrifugally and forcefully carry the liquid away to flush an object being worked upon.

Now, I have invented a form of grinding wheel that is particularly suited to dental work and which provides a practical solution to the problems mentioned above. It is adapted for use in association with a power operable holder or handpiece which is equipped to feed to the grinding element a supply of liquid as the element is rotated.

A feature of the grinding wheel is its particular construction, whereby the liquid supplied to it serves to simultaneously clean and cool the wheel as it rotates.

Another feature of the invention is a groove formation in the peripheral grinding surface of the wheel, whereby a plurality of cutting edges are provided and. the cooling characteristics of are further improved.

A further feature of the grinding wheel is a plurality of holes communicating a face of the wheel with the peripheral groove, whereby liquid fed to the face of the 2,697,878 Patented Dec. 28, 1954 "ice wheel is centrifugally and forcefully carried to all parts of the wheel as well as to the object being worked upon.

The invention further lies in its particular construction as well as in the relative arrangement and association of its various parts.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from a consideration of the detailed description which follows, taken together with the accompanying drawings wherein an embodiment of the invention is illustrated. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purposes of illustration and description, and are not to be construed as defining the limits of the invention.

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a power operated dental tool holder and a grinding wheel embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view on an enlarged scale of the grinding wheel apart from the holder;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the element in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross section through Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view, partly in cross section, of a modified form of grinding wheel; and

Fig. 6 is an elevational view, partly cut away, of a further modified form of the grinding element.

In describing the invention in detail, reference is directed to the several drawings, now particularly Figs. 1 to 4, wherein there is disclosed a dental tool holder or handpiece 1 having a tapered end 2 in which is removably received and held a dental tool, generally designated 3. The holder is equipped with conventional means, as at 4, for connection to a source of electric power, whereby the tool 3 may be driven or rotated at a high speed.

The dental tool 3, here illustrated as a grinding wheel, comprises a solid elongated shaft 5, the free end of which is receivable in the holding end 2 of the handpiece 1. Axially located at the opposite end of shaft 5 is a grinding element in the form of a disk or wheel 6. The shaft 5 and disk 6 may be turned from a single piece of metal stock or, as here, they may be separately turned and then united fast to one another. The wheel element is relatively thin and is recessed in over its bottom face 7 to provide a slight raised border or marginal edge 8. Centrally around the peripheral surface of the wheel is an annular groove 9, which divides the peripheral surface of the wheel into a pair of annular parallel ribs 11 and '11. The upper or top face 12 of the grinding wheel is recessed in such manner that the upper side 13 of rib 11 rises a little above the recessed face to form a surrounding border or marginal wall 14. The latter tapers at a slight angle down to the recessed face 12. About the edge of face 12 is a plurality of fine holes 15 which pass through the wall 14 to communicate the top face 12 of the wheel with the peripheral groove 9. The peripheral surface of the wheel including the ribs 11 and 11', and the outer sides 8 and 13 are provided with a cutting or abrading surface formed by a light coating thereon of very fine diamond particles 16, such as are conventionally used in coating dental tools and the like, so that not only the ribs but also the marginal edges of the wheel may be used in a grinding operation. The abrasive material covers not only the ribs but also the portions 8 and 13.

As indicated in Fig. 1 the shaft end 5 of the tool is shown received and held in the holder or handpiece 1. The latter is provided with suitable means for feeding a flow of liquid from an external source, not shown, to the upper face 12 of the grinding wheel. Here, the fluid carrying means is illustrated by an elongated slender tube 17 that extends along the outer surface of the handpiece and is attached thereto in suitable manner, as by bracket clamps 18. The exit end 19 of the tube projects beyond the tapered end 2 of the handpiece to a point just above the wheel face.

Now, when the tool is put to work in a grinding operation, which here we will assume to be on a tooth, the tool is rotated at high speed and fluid, which may be water, is fed through the supply tube 17 to the upper recessed face of the wheel. The fluid is centrifugally carried across the face to the edge thereof where it passes through the holes 15 to the peripheral groove 9. The fluid is carried'about by the groove and is dispersed to all parts of the wheel, and is also thrown from the groove and wheel to the tooth. Some of the fluid, escaping the holes, passes over the wall 14. It can readily be seen that in this arrangement of fluid fiow and tool construction, the grinding wheel will be simultaneously cooled and cleaned as it grinds and the tooth being worked upon will be continually flushed during the grinding operation. It can further be seen that grinding debris will be prevented from Collecting between the fine particles of the diamond coattingby the continuous washing and centrifugal flow of the fluid.

It is to be noted that the exit of the supply tube 17 is angularly .cut as at 21, and that the angular opening faces close to the juncture of the shaft with the Wheel face. This arrangement provides adesirable advantage, because it directs the fluid flow to the center of the wheel from where it is centrifugally spread over the entire surface of the wheel face, not only to a part thereof as would be the case were the direction of flow at the edge of the wheel.

A further feature of the wheel is to be noted in the construction of the communicating holes 15. These are in the nature of a trough in part. They are formed partially in the face of the Wheel and partially in the wall 14. They begin in and near the edge of the face 12, extend radially toward the wall 14, and pass slightly downward through the latter to communicate with the peripheral groove 9. in this form the holes simulate an impeller which tends to catch the fluid flow and to forcefully pump or carry it from the face of the wheel to the peripheral groove and beyond to the object being ground by the wheel; This structure further provides greater cooling, as well as debris cleaning and flushing characteristics.

The peripheral groove 9 provides another feature of the invention. By this structure the surface of the grinding is provided with two peripheral ribs or cutting edges, where, without the groove there would be but one wide peripheral cutting surface. Two cutting or grinding edges have less chance of accumulating debris here than one and, it is plain, can be utilized to greater advantage in a grinding operation.

in Fig. 5 is shown a modified form of the grinding wheel. in this form the grinding element 22 includes a pair of annular grooves 23 and 24, so as to provide the peripheral surface of the wheel with three annular parallel grinding ribs 25, 26 and 27. In this case the holes from the face of the Wheel may communicate with either groove. Here, they are shown in an arrangement where every otherhole, as indicated by hole 28, communicates with one groove, and the alternate holes, as indicated by hole 29, communicate with the other groove. In this structure three separate grinding rib surfaces are provided and each may be adequately cooled and cleaned by fluid flow from the recessed surfacethrough the different holes.

In Fig. 6 is shown another form of the grinding element, wherein a frustro conical type or cone head 31 is provided with a recess 32 in its upper face and has a plurality of holes 33 longitudinally through the cone to the bottom, and other holes 34 extending laterally from the holes 33 to the abrasive coated surface of thecone.

It is to be noted, that the fluid supply through the supply tube 17 may be water, a suitable antiseptic or other desirable liquid.

Having described and illustrated my invention as above, it is my intent, however, to claim the inventionnot only as shown and described but also in all such forms and modifications thereof as may be reasonably construed to be within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. For use in association with a power operated dental rotary tool holder of the character described, a dental grinding wheel comprising an elongated shaft adapted to be held in the holder, a disk mounted axially to the end of the shaft, the upper surface of the disk recessed to form a marginal wall about its edge, and the disk having two annular grinding ribs in its peripheral portion spaced in parallel relation to one another by a peripheral groove having a plurality of fine holes communicating the groove with the recessed surface of the disk at the base of the marginal wall.

2. For use in association with a power operated dental rotary tool holder of the character described, a dental I grinding Wheel, comprising'an elongated shaft adapted to be held in the holder, a disk mounted axially to the end of the shaft and having a plurality of parallel spaced annular grinding ribs in its peripheral portion, the upper surface of the disk being recessed to form a marginal wall about its edge, the bottom surface of the disk being recessed to form a marginal raised portion about its edge, and the ribs, the marginal wall outer surface and marginal raised portion being coated with fine diamond particles to form abrading surfaces. 7

3. A dental grinding wheel as in claim 2, wherein the grinding ribs are two in number and spaced from one another by a peripheral groove having a plurality of fine holes communicating the groove with the recessed upper surface of the disk at the base of the raised marginal wal 4. A dental grinding Wheel, for use in association with a power operated rotary tool holder, comprising an elongated shaft adapted to be held in the holder, a disk mounted axially to the end of the shaft and having a plurality of parallel spaced annular grinding ribs in its peripheral portions, the upper surface of the disk isrecessed to form a marginal wall about its edge, the bottom surface of the disk is recessed to form a marginal raised portion about its edge and the grinding ribs and the outer surfaces of the marginal portions are coated with fine'diarnond particles to form a plurality of abrading edges, the grinding ribs are three in number and spaced from one another by peripheral grooves having a plurality of fine holes communicating with the upper surface of the disk.

5. For use in combination with a power operated rotary dental tool holder of the character described, a dental grinding tool comprising an elongated shaft adapted to be held in the holder, a diamond coated grinding body element having a peripheral surface and mounted axially to the end of the shaft and having an upper recessed face provided with a plurality of holes at the edge thereof communicating through the body of the element to the peripheral surface thereof.

6. In combination with a power operated dental rotary tool holder, a dental grinding tool comprising an elongated solid shaft removably held in the holder, an abrasive coated grinding body element having a peripheral surface and mounted axially to the end of the shaft and having an upper recessed face with a plurality of holes at the edge thereof communicating through the body of the element to the peripheral surface thereof, and the tool holder including a liquid supply feed having an outlet adapted to communicate the liquid to the upper recessed surface of the grinding body element.

7. Means for simultaneously cooling and flushing a dental grinding tool, comprising a dental grinding tool in association with a power operated dental rotary tool holder, the grinding tool comprising an elongated solid shaft adapted to be held in the holder, a diamond coated grinding disk body having a peripheral surface and fixed to an end of the shaft and further having an upper recessed face with a plurality of holes at the edge thereof communicating through the body to the peripheral surface thereof, and the tool holder including a liquid supply feed having an outlet adapted to communicate the liquid to the upper recessed surface of the grinding body, and the latter body when rotating being adapted to centrifugally carry the the liquid across the recessed surface over and about the disk and forcefully through the holes to the peripheral surface of the disk whereby the latter surface is simultaneously flushed and cooled.

8. in means as in claim 7, wherein the peripheral surface of the grinding element includes a plurality of fine diamond coated annular parallel ribs spaced from one another by a peripheral groove, and the holes at the edge of the upper face communicate through the body to the peripheral groove.

9. In means as in claim 7, wherein the upper recessed surface includes a surrounding marginal wall and the holes through the body begin at the base of the wall, the wall serving to limit a greater quantity of liquid how to the holes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

